State Department families get OK to leave Pakistan

An attack on a church that killed five people has shaken the diplomatic community in Islamabad, Pakistan.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The State Department has authorized the voluntary departure of family members of U.S. Embassy and Consulate personnel in Pakistan in the wake of Sunday's terrorist attack on an Islamabad church that killed five people, including two Americans.

An authorized departure means the State Department considers a country's security situation so dangerous that it allows family members of U.S. personnel to leave their posts temporarily -- at the expense of the federal government.

Monday's announcement was made in an updated travel warning for U.S. citizens visiting Pakistan. The State Department warned that because security at U.S. facilities has been tightened, terrorists may increase attacks on "softer targets" frequented by Americans such as clubs, restaurants, places of worship, schools and outdoor recreation events.

The warning also mentions the kidnap-slaying of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl and said that "American citizens generally have been targeted for kidnapping and other terrorist actions."

The Pakistan government has heightened security around churches and diplomatic posts, but State Department officials said Monday they were trying to determine the nature of the threat to Americans in the country before taking further action.

Embassy personnel and their dependents -- including the two Americans killed Sunday -- had recently returned to Pakistan.

On September 18, a week after the terror attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the State Department authorized the departure of nonessential U.S. personnel and all dependents from Pakistan, Yemen, Turkmenistan and Indonesia. Officials estimate about 500 employees and dependents from those four countries chose to leave their posts.

The authorized departure for Pakistan ended January 29. Officials said Grant Green, undersecretary of state for management, made the decision, based on recommendations from Wendy Chamberlin, U.S. ambassador to Pakistan; State Department staff, other U.S. agencies and intelligence reports.

"Clearly, we all want to be as careful as possible with our personnel, but ... the departure of our dependents and nonemergency personnel had gone on for months," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Monday.

"People at posts were looking forward to having their families back with them, and at that time we operated on the best security information we had," Boucher said.

'We are in a lot of dangerous places'

A senior State Department official said that the decision to return Embassy personnel to Pakistan was based on the fact that no active threat existed against Americans in the country and security assistance from the Pakistan government was "better than ever before."

"To the extent we can protect our people anywhere, Islamabad provided a lot of help," this official said, adding that the Pakistan capital "was more peaceful" and the security situation was considered "far more dangerous" in Karachi, where Pearl was abducted.

Officials said security is normally stringent in Karachi, a southern city on the Arabian Sea, and American officials usually travel with armed guards.

"There was no reason to keep people out of Islamabad," the senior State Department official said. "We are in a lot of dangerous places. We try to protect our people the best we can, but in the end nothing we can do is going to be perfect."

Another official said the State Department "still had concerns about the security situation [in Pakistan], but that had been the case for years now."

"It wasn't like we made the decision lightly," this official said. "Every month we had to consider whether or not to allow them back. There was a lot of agonizing whether or not to do it, but in the end we made the decision. ... Any professional's job is to make a judgment call."

Americans urged to remain vigilant overseas

Citing "credible reports that extremist individuals are planning additional terrorist actions against U.S. interests around the world," the State Department issued a worldwide caution Sunday urging Americans to remain vigilant abroad.

"Such actions may be imminent and include suicide operations," the warning said, adding that the United States has no detailed information on targets, timing or method of attack.

Officials said the U.S. government is not discouraging Americans from traveling abroad, but they said they hope the caution will serve as a reminder for Americans to take the strictest precautions.